David Malazonia - First Swallow

Music from his home country of Georgia, that means to David Malazonia the synthesis of traditional folklore, an elaborate polyphonic vocal music, and of the Arabian-Persian music of its Muslim neighbours. But also Western influences from beyond the Big Caucasus and contemporary jazz can be found in today's Georgian music.
Georgia, a border country between Europe and Asia on the southern edge of the Caucasus has always been in a field of tension between different influences. In the North it borders on Russia, in the South on Turkey, thus having a major role with regard to geography and transportation. The Silk Road led directly to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The geographical position of Georgia between East and West has influenced all areas of life. In the past, the country was now border, now bridge between the Christian and Muslim worlds, between Europe and Asia.
The old-established encounter between the different cultures meeting in Georgia finds a perfect resonance in David Malazonia's debut album First Swallow under the Intuition label. His compositions are not so much characterized by the influence of Arabian-Persian music which could be found in particular in urban centres such as the capital Tbilisi until the end of the 18th century, but lost its importance in the Georgian culture of today. Much more striking is the elaborately arranged vocal polyphony of the compositions. Polyphonic singing as is typical of traditional Georgian folk music.
The fascinating quality of the complex arrangements by David Malazonia is, above all, the both horizontal and vertical development of catchy vocal and instrumental melodies. Apart from the Georgian polyphony, it is influences of Western jazz that can be heard in the virtuoso piano solos of David Malazonia in particular. In addition to seemingly familiar jazz patterns, the European listener can hear the sounds of strange-looking traditional Georgian instruments of the famous duduki ensemble 'Urmuli'.

With his album First Swallow, David Malazonia creates a fascinating and independent link between Georgian folklore and Western jazz sounds which are reflected in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, as melting pot of different cultures.